Francisco Rodríguez Fontán, Cecilia Pascual Garrido
Una significativa cantidad de adultos jóvenes activos sufre lesiones condrales focales. Estas lesiones, si no se tratan, pueden progresar hacia la artrosis, que es una de las principales enfermedades musculoesqueléticas debilitantes y de gran carga económica que afectan a toda sociedad. Pese a los tratamientos quirúrgicos disponibles para la reparación de defectos condrales focales sintomáticos que mejoran la calidad de vida a mediano plazo, hay un mayor riesgo de progresión hacia la artrosis prematura. Los tratamientos biológicos (células madre, bioingeniería tisular) han avanzado a grandes pasos en los últimos años. La bioingeniería es un área que ha progresado en la regeneración de cartílago articular y que potencialmente podría progresar en el terreno de tratamientos articulares, promoviendo la regeneración y evitando la degeneración. Las células madre y los hidrogeles pueden proveer un tejido símil biológico de comportamiento dinámico-funcional equivalente que induce la regeneración tisular al ser degradado y reemplazado gradualmente. El abordaje consiste en colocar un hidrogel precursor o un biomaterial tridimensional impreso dentro del defecto condral por ocupar para inducir la regeneración. Esta revisión se focaliza en el uso actual y futuro de hidrogeles y bioimpresión tridimensional para la regeneración de cartílago articular en el tratamiento de lesiones condrales focales y proporciona datos preliminares de dos estudios piloto en animales. AbstractA significant number of young active adults are affected by focal chondral lesions. These lesions, if left untreated, will progress to osteoarthritis (OA). OA is one of the main debilitating musculoskeletal diseases and leads to a high economic and social burden. Despite surgical cartilage repair for focal chondral lesions, which improve patient-reported outcomes at short- and mid-term, there is a risk of early OA progression. Biological treatments (i.e., stem-cell therapy, bioengineering) have made great progress in the last years. Tissue engineering is an evolving field for articular cartilage repair which could potentially be used for the treatment of focal chondral lesions, promoting regeneration and preventing joint surface degeneration. Stem cells and hydrogels may provide a functional, dynamic and biologically equivalent tissue that promotes tissue regeneration while being gradually degraded and replaced. The standard approach to tissue engineering consists in delivering cells within a hydrogel or a three-dimensional printed biomaterial scaffold into the chondral lesion to induce regeneration. This review focuses on the current and future use of hydrogels and tissue scaffold bioprinting for the treatment of focal chondral lesions, and provides preliminary data from two pilot animal studies.
A significant number of young active adults are affected by focal chondral lesions. These lesions, if left untreated, will progress to osteoarthritis (OA). OA is one of the main debilitating musculoskeletal diseases and leads to a high economic and social burden.Despite surgical cartilage repair for focal chondral lesions, which improve patient-reported outcomes at short- and mid-term, there is a risk of early OA progression. Biological treatments (i.e., stem-cell therapy, bioengineering) have made great progress in the last years. Tissue engineering is an evolving field for articular cartilage repair which could potentially be used for the treatment of focal chondral lesions, promoting regeneration and preventing joint surface degeneration. Stem cells and hydrogels may provide a functional, dynamic and biologically equivalent tissue that promotes tissue regeneration while being gradually degraded and replaced. The standard approach to tissue engineering consists in delivering cells within a hydrogel or a three-dimensional printed biomaterial scaffold into the chondral lesion to induce regeneration. This review focuses on the current and future use ofhydrogels and tissue scaffold bioprinting for the treatment of focal chondral lesions, and provides preliminary data from two pilot animal studies.